Chinese Scientists Working on Diseases of Cultured Organisms in Seawater

Considerable research efforts are being made in China to understand the pathogeny of major marine cultured organisms and their resistance to diseases, which has been listed in the national development program for major basic research projects. The program, also called "973," is in effect a national plan focused on the leading basic

On the Comprehensive Prevention and Control Technology of the Reproductive Organ Disease of Breeding Geese under the Anti-season Breeding Mode

Reproductive organ disease of geese is an endemic and multiple infectious disease in large-scale breeding of breeding geese, especially in anti-season production, which brings a great economic loss to goose production. To make effective prevention and control of reproductive organ disease of breeding geese under the anti-season breeding mode, the characteristics of control principles of infectious diseases of the poultry and the occurrence and prevalence of reproductive organ disease must be combined, so as to carry out scientific prevention and control.At the same time, according to the climate characteristics of summer, the feeding and management of breeding geese and water quality control should also be done well, and many corresponding measures should also be taken, thus obtaining better effect.

Anesthetic Treatment in Operations of Small Pelvic Organs Pathology

The article presents data on the surgical treatment of 405 patients with pelvic organ surgical and gynecological diseases. When using regional anesthesia during operations in the lower abdominal cavity of patients with pelvic pathology, a smoother operation course and early postoperative period were observed compared with general anesthesia use. In this work, 405 patients with surgical and gynecological diseases of pelvic organs, operated in the surgical and gynecological departments were analyzed. When using regional anesthesia, it was observed that intraoperative blood loss in patients and consumption of narcotic analgesics in the postoperative period decreases.

Predictive value of alarm symptoms in Rome IV irritable bowel syndrome:A multicenter cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND Irritable bowel syndrome(IBS)is a common functional bowel disease that shares features with many organic diseases and cannot be accurately diagnosed by symptom-based criteria.Alarm symptoms have long been applied in the clinical diagnosis of IBS.However,no study has explored the predictive value of alarm symptoms in suspected IBS patients based on the latest Rome IV criteria.AIM To investigate the predictive value of alarm symptoms in suspected IBS patients based on the Rome IV criteria.METHODS In this multicenter cross-sectional study,we collected data from 730 suspected IBS patients evaluated at 3 tertiary care centers from August 2018 to August 2019.Patients with IBS-like symptoms who completed colonoscopy during the study period were initially identified by investigators through medical records.Eligible patients completed questionnaires,underwent laboratory tests,and were assigned to the IBS or organic disease group according to colonoscopy findings and pathology results(if a biopsy was taken).Independent risk factors for organic disease were explored by logistic regression analysis,and the positive predictive value(PPV)and missed diagnosis rate were calculated.RESULTS The incidence of alarm symptoms in suspected IBS patients was 75.34%.Anemia[odds ratio(OR)=2.825,95%confidence interval(CI):1.273-6.267,P=0.011],fecal occult blood[OR=1.940(95%CI:1.041-3.613),P=0.037],unintended weight loss(P=0.009),female sex[OR=0.560(95%CI:0.330-0.949),P=0.031]and marital status(P=0.030)were independently correlated with organic disease.The prevalence of organic disease was 10.41%in suspected IBS patients.The PPV of alarm symptoms for organic disease was highest for anemia(22.92%),fecal occult blood(19.35%)and unintended weight loss(16.48%),and it was 100%when these three factors were combined.The PPV and missed diagnosis rate for diagnosing IBS were 91.67%and 74.77%when all alarm symptoms were combined with Rome IV and 92.09%and 34.10%when only fecal occult blood,unintended weight loss and anemia were combined with Rome IV,respectively.CONCLUSION Anemia,fecal occult blood and unintended weight loss have high predictive value for organic disease in suspected IBS patients and can help identify patients requiring further examination but are not recommended as exclusion criteria for IBS.

Transient ventricular arrhythmia as a rare cause of dizziness during exercise:A case report

BACKGROUND Dizziness is a common symptom in adults and usually due to peripheral causes affecting semicircular canal function or central causes affecting the pons,medulla,or cerebellum.Arrhythmia is a recognized cause of dizziness in people with structural or ischemic heart disease.We report a case of exercise-induced transient ventricular tachycardia and dizziness in a man with no evidence of organic heart disease.CASE SUMMARY A 42-year-old man presented with a 6 mo history of transient exercise-induced dizziness and prodromal palpitations.The patient was otherwise asymptomatic.Physical examination,otoscopy,vestibular tests,cerebellar tests,laboratory investigations,and imaging investigations were all unremarkable.Twenty-four hour Holter monitoring revealed four episodes of transient ventricular tachycardia during exercise.The patient was started on metoprolol and subsequently underwent radiofrequency catheter ablation.The patient reported a full recovery and no dizziness during daily activities.These results were maintained at the 6 mo follow-up.CONCLUSION Ventricular tachycardia is an uncommon but potentially serious cause of dizziness.The outcome of this case illustrates the benefits of careful clinical examination and communication with specialized centers.High clinical suspicion of arrhythmia in a patient with dizziness merits consultation with a cardiologist and referral to a specialized center to ensure timely diagnosis and treatment.

The transmission mechanism theory of disease dynamics:Its aims,assumptions and limitations

Most of the progress in the development of single scale mathematical and computational models for the study of infectious disease dynamics which now span over a century is build on a body of knowledge that has been developed to address particular single scale descriptions of infectious disease dynamics based on understanding disease transmission process.Although this single scale understanding of infectious disease dynamics is now founded on a body of knowledge with a long history,dating back to over a century now,that knowledge has not yet been formalized into a scientific theory.In this article,we formalize this accumulated body of knowledge into a scientific theory called the transmission mechanism theory of disease dynamics which states that at every scale of organization of an infectious disease system,disease dynamics is determined by transmission as the main dynamic disease process.Therefore,the transmission mechanism theory of disease dynamics can be seen as formalizing knowledge that has been inherent in the study of infectious disease dynamics using single scale mathematical and computational models for over a century now.The objective of this article is to summarize this existing knowledge about single scale modelling of infectious dynamics by means of a scientific theory called the transmission mechanism theory of disease dynamics and highlight its aims,assumptions and limitations.

Effect of electroacupuncture at“ Zúsānlǐ”(足三里 ST 36) and other lower he-sea points on the expression of TNF-α and NF-κB of acute gastric mucosal lesion rats

Objective To contrastively observe the effect of electroacupuncture at lower he-sea points of stomach, large intestine, small intestine and gallbladder of acute gastric mucosal lesion（AGML） model rats on the expression of serum high mobility group protein B 1（HMGB 1）, tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α） and nuclear factor-κB（NF-κB） of gastric tissue, and to explore whether the lower he-sea points of stomach have relative specificity in treatment of stomach diseases. Methods Seventy healthy SD rats were randomly divided into seven groups, including control group, model group, ＂Zúsānlǐ＂（足三里 ST 36） group, ＂Shàngjùxū＂（上巨虚 ST 37） group, ＂Xiàjùxū＂（下巨虚 ST 39） group, ＂Yánglíngquán＂（阳陵泉 GB 34） group and ＂Chéngjīn＂（承筋 BL 56） group, with five male rats and five female rats in each group. Acute gastric mucosal lesion model was established by applying WRS method. After successful modeling and treatment for ten days, sampling was conducted, gastric mucosal lesion was observed visually and scored, the levels of serum HMGB 1 and gastric tissue TNF-α were detected by ELISA method, and the expression of NF-κB was detected by immunohistochemical method. Results①Compared with the model group, the levels of Ulcers and inflammation（UI） in gastric mucosal and serum HMGB1, and the expression of gastric tissue TNF-α and NF-κB in the four lower he-sea points groups reduced（P〈0.01 or P〈0.05）;② compared with ST 36 group, the levels of gastric mucosal UI and serum HMGB1, and the expression of gastric mucosal TNF-α and NF-κB in other treatment groups increased significantly, and the difference was statistically significant（P〈0.01 or P〈0.05）. Conclusion①Electroacupuncture at relevant lower he-sea points can inhibit the body＇s immune response, relieve inflammatory reaction and reduce mucosal lesion by regulating HMGB 1, TNF-α and NF-κB, so as to realize the intervention and treatment on AGML rats;② the total intervention effect in ST 36 group is superior to that in other groups, indicating partially that there is a relative specificity between ST 36 and stomach.

Disruption of iron homeostasis and resultant health effects upon exposure to various environmental pollutants:A critical review

Environmental pollution has become one of the greatest problems in the world, and the concerns about environmental pollutants released by human activities from agriculture and industrial production have been continuously increasing. Although intense efforts have been made to understand the health effects of environmental pollutants, most studies have only focused on direct toxic effects and failed to simultaneously evaluate the long-term adaptive, compensatory and secondary impacts on health. Burgeoning evidence suggests that environmental pollutants may directly or indirectly give rise to disordered element homeostasis, such as for iron. It is crucially important to maintain concerted cellular and systemic iron metabolism. Otherwise, disordered iron metabolism would lead to cytotoxicity and increased risk for various diseases, including cancers. Thus, study on the effects of environmental pollutants upon iron homeostasis is urgently needed. In this review, we recapitulate the available findings on the direct or indirect impacts of environmental pollutants, including persistent organic pollutants（POPs）, heavy metals and pesticides, on iron homeostasis and associated adverse health problems. In view of the unanswered questions, more efforts are warranted to investigate the disruptive effects of environmental pollutants on iron homeostasis and consequent toxicities.